City Vibes
Artist: Blu Mar Ten Album: Love is the Devil Rating: London-based Drum & Bass outfit Blu Mar Ten (BMT) have been producing music since 1996, have released four critically acclaimed LPs and countless singles and remixes, yet they remain relatively unknown. ‘Love is the Devil’ deserves wider exposure and could certainly twist the arm of those still convinced the genre is all brash MCs and 160 bp … Continued
Community Service
01 Informal Northern Thai Group Tuesday, February 14: ‘The Plain of Jars in a New Light’ by Hans Lipp, Geographer, University of Tuebingen, Germany. For further information, please call 053 117 319 or email gabaudel@loxinfo.co.th. 02 Nicotine Anonymous Want to stop smoking? It works! Meetings on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 1 p.m. at The 7 Fountains, Huay Kaew Road. For more information please call … Continued
This is Thailand
1. What kind of iPhone apps are useful to have living in Thailand? Grace: There are many apps which can make life easier in the Land of Smiles. First and foremost, I would recommend you to download the Citylife free app, for all the latest news and information on events, attractions, activities and recommendations in Chiang Mai. Personally I like to have a Thai dictionary app so I can look up word … Continued
Your Say
No Simple Solutions In his January letter ‘Cars out of the Moat’, Mr. Bourne puts forward the idea of banning private cars from the inner moat area, although he does not give any benefits or reasons for this suggestion. I presume he thinks that the lesser traffic flow will make everything calm, less polluted and safer. Unfortunately his idea is based on false assumptions; namely that private cars … Continued
The Life of Wine
This month I have decided to risk being slapped for pretentiousness. The discussion is: does the glass one gulps wine from make any difference whatsoever to the taste? Of course it does. Not to say that something chilled and fruity out of a polystyrene cup on a beach, watching a sunset with that special someone in your life, isn’t likely to taste superb; but in general, spending a few baht on some … Continued
Notes from Joe’s Kitchen
The Great Khao Soi Search has been extended for another month. The final results will be posted in the March issue. Thanks to everyone who has suggested new restaurants to visit. For the New Year, I was cleaning out my writing desk and found several ideas that I had squirreled away as possible column fodder. Unfortunately, as I thought about them, I realised that, while interesting, they weren’t w … Continued
Out in The City
Funny old word, decadence. There is a media obsession with the morality or the lacking therein. Loaded with Victorian values of debasement, degeneracy and degradation to some, but burning brightly with bingeing blowouts and candles lit at both ends to others who are more than happy to be regarded as Sybarites, reclining on a chaise longue of epicurean indulgence and sensual delight. Their lustful … Continued
Editorial
Like everyone – I hope! – I have been giddy with passions as well as humbled by obsessions…mind out of the gutter please. Sitting in front of an easel mixing squidgy dollops of oil paints or thrumming fingers on a keyboard mulling over words, phrases and thoughts, have for decades been my passions. Pretentious as it sounds, that in-the-zone feeling, when you are so concentrated on the immediate ac … Continued
What’s Happening?
ARTS & EXHIBITIONS Now – 5th February JAPANESE CALLIGRAPHY EXHIBITION @ Baan Tuek Art Centre (Next to the Government Savings Bank, on the opposite side of The Buddhist Association Of Chiang Mai on Tha Pae Road) 085 030 1345 Japanese Culture SHODO (Japanese Calligraphy), each piece of work has been written by Japanese calligraphers. 3rd – 15th February THAI – AMERICAN EXCHANGE EXHIBITION @ CMU … Continued
City Buzz
Khun Pat is located above Sweet Treat Nail Bar in The Mee Chok Plaza, so it’s a great place to rest your weary body after a shopping trip to Rimping supermarket or the many other shops in the plaza. Anyway, apart from the convenient location, Khun Pat has a wide range of treatments to suit different people with different needs. Rejuvenate yourself with a traditional Thai or aroma massage, or for t … Continued
Special Scoop: Varee Chiangmai School
While much of Asia is only beginning to make preparations for the upcoming ASEAN community, when ASEAN countries integrate economically and politically, Varee Chiangmai School has been preparing for almost ten years. Their staff, curriculum and facilities have all been developed to encourage an international outlook while upholding Thai culture and values. VCS strives to educate students in such a … Continued
Clients’ Spot
Chiang Mai Cotton is a must for anyone interested in beautiful, simple clothing that is well crafted. The shop sells clothing made from eco-friendly dyes and natural fabrics, such as cotton and linen. All of the clothing is made locally and the detailing is hand worked. While catering primarily to women, there is also a small selection of men’s and children’s clothing. The store reflects Chiang Ma … Continued
A Portrait of a Peacebuilder
When Mother Theresa received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, she was asked, “What can we do to promote world peace?” The elderly nun, by then a global icon of peace, replied, “Go home and love your family.” It was a simple decree and one that Winchana Jitnaruk, would certainly agree with. As Program Coordinator for Peacebuilding Projects at Payap University’s Institute for Religion, Culture and Pea … Continued
The Collectors
John Shaw MBE, co-founder of this very publication, has been well known for decades in Thailand and around the world for his knowledge and collection of northern Thai ceramics, having published his first book with Oxford University Press in 1981 on the subject as well as numerous others over the years. Shaw has always been a collector, passionately collecting from childhood various things such as … Continued
The Scent of Passion
“You are addicted to that bloody thing” said Mrs. D. “No dear. Technically, I am obsessed by it. In much the same way as I am obsessed by you.” I thought that was pretty smooth but she was having none of it. “I don’t care. Stop fiddling with it and take your hand out of your pocket.” There followed a lively discussion on the difference between addiction and obsession. The former is a more chemical … Continued
Facing up to Politics
The third instalment of my series on politics in the Chiang Mai area comes finally to a true representative of local political thought in action: Surapong Pongdejkhajorn; former Member of Parliament, Secretary to the Minister of Industry, Deputy Minister of Education and a member of the Constitutional Assembly of 1997. A life-long Chiang Mai resident and local business personality, Surapong attend … Continued
Chiang Mai’s Hottest Innovative Designs
Are you Lanna-ed out? Had your fill of teak kalare, painted brollies, tuk tuk t-shirts and chopstick sets? There is only so much of the old culture we can adopt, adapt, nab and sell, right? What do we have to offer NOW and in the future? Well, under the auspices of the Chiang Mai Creative City initiative, Chiang Mai’s first Innovative Design Awards (IDA 2012) is opening up to the public to ask YOU … Continued
For the Love of Flying
If you’re looking to join a guy’s club in Chiang Mai, this is it. Top Gun is a radio control airplane training centre situated on the outer ring road and is equipped with a landing strip and a small plane hangar. It doesn’t look like much at first when you drive down a narrow dirt road to this isolated site, the facilities are modest – just a workshop and a few metal tables – but when the buzz of … Continued
Nostalgic Thai Tourists Head to Amphawa
Traditional wooden houses line the klong, market vendors wearing wide brimmed hats and smiles serve delicious steaming dishes and colourful sweets from their one-man-band boats, and if you’re lucky you may catch a glimpse of a tua hea (water lizard) carousing under the walkway boards. Amphawa is famous for its atmosphere of the olden days and the traditional way of life in the central region of Th … Continued
Staying Sober in Thailand
What is it about that time in the evening when the sun is going down, perhaps after a long day at work or a busy afternoon, and a thought subtly arises in your brain and all of a sudden you are itching for a cold beer or a soothing glass of wine? Often living in Thailand expats may feel tempted to drink more than in their home country, many foreign friends have told me they either do, or could, dr … Continued